The present invention is directed generally to food products and to their methods of preparation. In particular, the present invention is directed to sugar coatings for foods such as breakfast cereals that are sucrose reduced, e.g., pre-sweetened breakfast cereal products comprising such coatings, and to methods for making such coatings and coated finished food and cereal products.
Ready-to-eat (“RTE”) breakfast cereals are popular packaged food items. RTE cereals exist in many different varieties can be grouped into two broad categories: puffed and un-puffed cereals. Puffed cereals are foamed grain based pieces. Typically used are oat, corn (maize), rice, and blended grains that are mixed with water sufficient to form a dough and cooked in such a way that the final texture is crisp and aerated. Un-puffed cereals include 1) flaked cereals (e.g., corn flakes, wheat flakes, rice flakes, mixed grain flakes), and to a lesser extent 2) shreds (whether from whole grains or from cooked cereal doughs), 3) biscuits, including filled or unfilled, 4) shredded biscuits, including filled and unfilled, and 5) granola cereals.
Often, such products include various coatings usually comprising nutritive carbohydrate sweeteners such as sucrose, corn syrup (also known as glucose syrup), fructose, etc. Conventionally, presweetened breakfast cereals have been prepared by first producing cereal pieces (a cereal base), coating the cereal pieces with an aqueous slurry or solution of sweeteners, and then drying the coated pieces in an oven or air current to remove moisture.
Pre-sweetened coatings typically comprise sucrose as their principal ingredient. As the level of sucrose in the coating decreases and the level of corn syrups increases, the coating compositions becomes less crystalline and more sticky and hygroscopic. While such properties can be desirable in applications wherein a sugar syrup is used as a binder for generating particulate agglomerates (e.g., for use in granola or cereal bars), such stickiness is undesirable in pre-sweetened RTE cereal production. Stickier products are not optimal for processing efficiency. Also, the resultant finished product is more hygroscopic, and as moisture is absorbed over time the products becomes stickier, causing reduced consumer acceptance and organoleptic properties (e.g., an RTE cereal may not pour well from the package). Consequently, corn syrup substitution for sucrose is generally limited to about one part in five for an acceptable sugar coating formulation for the preparation of a pre-sweetened cereal.
Current consumer trends favor reduced sugar products. Thus, there is a desire for reduced sugar containing pre-sweetened cereal products. Sugar refers to all the mono-saccharides and disaccharides contained in a finished food (e.g., cereal) product. Reduced sugar containing products can be prepared simply by reducing the amount or ratio of sugar based pre-sweetener applied to the cereal base. Typically, in a pre-sweetened breakfast cereal, the ratio of coating to base can be about 1:1. Such reductions, however, come at the expense of reductions in other desirable cereal product attributes. For example, sweetness perception is reduced. Also, crispness or bowl life of the product in milk can be unacceptably reduced. Sucrose is the major contributor to sugar content in cereals and is typically 80 wt % or more of a sugar coating on a dry basis. As such, the sugar content of the coating composition can be reduced by decreasing the amount of sucrose contained within the coating. However, the crystallinity of the sucrose in the coating decreases, and the cereal becomes more hygroscopic.
Another problem with either reducing the amount of the sugar coating used, or the sucrose content of the coating, is a reduction in production capacity, such that production becomes inefficient.
In light of the difficulties of reducing the sucrose content of a pre-sweetened breakfast cereal while maintaining the benefits and eating qualities of conventional high sucrose level consumer food products, there is a continuing need for reduced sucrose coating formulations and finished pre-sweetened RTE cereal products. Particularly desired are coatings that do not reduce processing efficiency, cereal texture, bowl life, and eating qualities.